| Title: |
Mediatized Conflict: Eha-Amufu-Fulani Herders’ Conflicts in Focus |
| Author(s): |
Livinus O. Ede, Ugochukwu C. Eze, Mercy Osonwa Madu & Jennifer Chinecherem Ede |
| Abstract: |
Security of lives and properties have been a nightmare in Eha-Amufu and its environs for some years now.
This poor state of affairs was aggravated by the level of media framing induced by the stakeholders in the
area. This paper examines the dimension of this online media publicity and perspectives in line with the
attendant conflicts these escalatory media narratives have brought to Eha-Amufu and its environs.
Specifically, the paper investigates how online media are implicated in constructing frames alongside
ethnicity, political, cultural identities, as well as the perception of the stakeholders and indigenes of Eha
Amufu on the emerging farmers-herders clashes. To achieve these objectives, the researchers conduct
structured oral interviews on purposively selected respondents. Four online media outfits were also
purposively selected to examine the level of perspectives the stakeholders and government agencies were
implicated in the construction of media frames. The paper adopted descriptive and content analysis
techniques for the analysis of data. The chosen theoretical framework is Scheufele. The analysis of data
reveal that there was total misrepresentation of facts by the stakeholders and government functionaries and
its agencies on the cause(s) of the conflicts. The results from the oral interviews indicate that the online
media frames actually caused fear, panic and over-blotting of the victims of the conflicts; and that the media
narratives was also tailored alongside ethnic nationality, political patronage and cultural affiliations. |
| Keywords: |
Mediatized conflict, Media frames, Herders, Online media, Stakeholders.
|
|
EBONYI JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE
